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Talk:Who Do You Think You Are/@comment-3575890-20131027054128/@comment-3575890-20131027093112
^ AHS never used to be nearly as exploitation-oriented as it is now. The show has seemed to have lost its grasp on the art of subtley. Don't get me wrong, I still love it, but it is way more sensationalized than it used to be or ought to be for that matter. I watch a lot of horror, so I am no stranger to cheap shock value tactics and extreme gratutious violence, but nonetheless, when I tune in to AHS I don't just expect to be entertained, I expect to get good quality writing out of it, and often times I feel that all of this shock value detracts from the emotional impact. Allow me to paraphrase my assertion that I don't find gratuitious scenes designed for shock value purposes as powerful as less exploitative scenes. I'm not necessarily saying that I am not at all affected by them; what I mean is I find scenes that leave more to the imagination exponentially more effective because the imagination -- what our minds can conjure up -- is more terrifying and hits with a far greater impact than anything that can be depicted on a television screen. But that's just me. In this matter, I'm of the opinion that less is more. My problem is not with the fact that this show deals with dark mature themes such as rape and sexual violence. It is the fact that these rape scenes are so abundant and gratuitious in nature that it feels more like it's pandering to a target audience instead of natural, organic story telling. And it actually says a lot that many people cannot stand to even be in seeing and hearing range of rape scenes. I think for that reason alone, show runners could be a little more mindful in how they show scenes of this nature. For instance, there was no reason whatsoever that Madison's gang rape needed to be shown from the point of view of a rape victim. That shit was entirely uncalled for, and not to mention that scene was unnecessarily prolonged, much like Kyle's molestation scene, which I will get to in a moment. "People complaining about this is the equivalent of someone watching Degrassi and complaining that there's drama. Like, wtf? Of course there is, that's the point." - Complaining about a show's containing specific content you dislike because you think it's repetitive, annoying, or unnecessary is not the same as expressing grievance over a show's containing content that legitimately upsets and triggers you. I'm not denying that this season has been a huge step-up from the last in terms of establishing strong female empowerment, but so far what running theme continues to be the primary driving force behind that? Rape Revenge -- the most cliched trope they could have possibly used. Madison's big enpowering moment is her murdering her rapists. The pinnacle of Zoe's enpowerment? Raping a rapist to death. Yeah, sure, Lana got her revenge on Thresdon -- after he raped her. Rape, rape, rape. Why is it that female characters are always required to be raped before they can be shown to be enpowered? There are other terrible things in the world besides rape that can and do happen to women that they come out stronger from. I don't know. I guess I've just reached my wit's end with all the rape overload I can stand. It's gotten to a point where it feels like rape is being thrown in just for the sake of there being rape scenes. Enough is enough. Oh, do not get me wrong! I found Kyle's incestuous molestation scene to be one of the most uncomfortable to watch moments in the history of this series, if not in television history, and I have just as much issue with it as I do the rape scenes that have been shown on AHS in the past. It further lends to my point of that these scenes are unnecessarily prolonged and graphic. The first time Kyle's mom kissed him in that way immediately tipped us off as to what was going to happen next. There was no reason that scene needed to go on for as long as it did. I could have done without seeing a completely helpless Kyle pinned down beneath his mother while she forced kiss after kiss on him, let alone being subjected to imagery of her hand diving in his pants. I must disagree with you in that the male rape scenes have the same level of bruality as the female's. '''TRIGGER WARNING AHEAD: '''Until I see one character forcibly suckle on the nipple of a male character against his will before he is raped in a prolonged, extremely graphic montage, it is not equal; until I see a character repreatedly thrust violently into a male character while the camera pans on his crying, terrified face, it is not equal; until I see the lifeless corpse of a male character violently defiled, it is not equal; until I see a male character gang-raped by a horde of laughing frat boys through the eyes of the victim, it is not equal; until I see as many male characters sexually abused as I do female characters, it is not equal.